HSBC Sued by New York Over Alleged Foreclosure Violations

By David McLaughlin & Chris Dolmetsch

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank, was accused in a suit by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of violating the state’s foreclosure law and putting homeowners at increased risk of losing their property.

A state investigation found that HSBC failed to give homeowners the legally required chance to negotiate loan modifications, leaving them languishing in foreclosure proceedings, according to Schneiderman, who sued HSBC yesterday in New York state Supreme Court in Buffalo.

“Companies like HSBC are brazenly ignoring state law, leaving homeowners across New York stuck in a legal limbo where they can’t even get the legally required settlement conference that could help them keep their homes,” the attorney general said.

The suit underscores Schneiderman’s continuing scrutiny of banks’ foreclosure practices after all but one of the nation’s attorneys general reached a $25 billion settlement last year with five mortgage servicers including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. HSBC wasn’t part of that accord.

Read more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-04/hsbc-sued-by-new-york-over-alleged-foreclosure-violations.html